Roster moves — Gomes and Fisher

Sorry for not blogging the roster moves earlier, but I was out with the family enjoying one of the area’s finest hamburgers at Zip’s. Our blog system has no mobile application. Good thing there was Twitter, which I was able to update. If you don’t follow me on that, I encourage you to do so for breaking news updates. It’s come in handy with all the news lately.

In case you missed the transaction, here it is:

The Reds purchased the contract of OF Jonny Gomes and recalled righty reliever Carlos Fisher from Triple-A Louisville. OF Darnell McDonald was designated for assignment. RHP Ramon Ramirez was optioned back to Louisville.

The Gomes-McDonald move was the one you were clamoring for and it’s definitely a good time for it. After a slow start, Gomes was hitting .282 and led the Bats with nine homers and 27 RBIs. He tore it up at the start of Spring Training before tailing off the second part.

One of the knocks about Gomes in Tampa Bay the past couple of years was that his type of swing suffered more with part-time play. He needs at-bats to stay sharp. I will be curious to see how his production here is affected by being a bench guy. Regardless, he will be a great clubhouse presence.

Fisher’s numbers have been great — 2-0, with a 2.00 ERA (18ip, 11h, 4bb, 21k, 0hr) in 13 relief appearances.

McDonald was the 25th man and didn’t do much with the limited chances he got. He batted .175 in 24 games, going 7-for-40 with one extra-base hit. He also struck out nine times and grounded into four double plays.

Gomes: “I started to get locked in towards the end. In the beginning, it was real cold out and I could run every excuse out there but it’s my responsibility to be professional and get off to a quick start, which didn’t happen. I mentally checked into Louisville, and got my swing going.”

Fisher: “I had just sat down at a theatre to watch “The Terminator” movie. The preview had just gotten done and I had a missed call. I had a funny feeling so I went outside. It was Rick Sweet. So I didn’t watch the movie.”

Homer Bailey, who starts Saturday: “I was little inconsistent, especially at the beginning. I had a terrible start. Since then, everything has gone fairly well. If you take out five innings out of everything I’ve thrown, then it looks very good.”

Dusty Baker said that Joey Votto is available to pinch-hit tonight and could start in Saturday’s game. The Reds will be seeing lefty starters the next three games in a row.

“I’d hate to bring him right back against those lefties but we need Joey in there,” Baker said. “It depends on how he feels today. The last thing we want to do is rush him back or put him under the pressure to rush back.”

If you have not met the emotional and charatcer that is Jonny Gomes, you are missing out on a true baseball treasure.
I am glad he is getting a shot to put some life into the Reds.
He is an amazing clubhouse guy, and I was hurt to see that Dusty Baker pushed him to the minors for a bit this year.
Hopefully he can be the same sparkplug he was during the spring and give the Reds some offensive power.

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